Both public, elected members give a tough time to Vellore Collector

VELLORE: Collector Kumaravel Pandian understands what it means to be between a rock and a hard place. On one hand he could not get the usual space to park his official vehicle at Collectorate portico as those of elected representatives were parked there and the other a heated argument with a woman in public at VG Rao Nagar where he went for an inspection of smart city works recently.

When a meeting on the Vellore smart city works was held in the Collectorate a couple of days ago, Vellore MP Kathir Anand arrived first and parked his vehicle in the portico, where usually the cars of collector and DRO are parked. Next to arrive was Anaicut MLA AP Nandakumar. After some murmured conversation, the MP’s vehicle was moved to accommodate the MLA’s car. But, when the Collector arrived, his vehicle could not enter the portico and he had to alight and walk to his office. As the two vehicles failed to move out, the Collector’s car was parked at the rear of the building.

Similarly, when Pandian was inspecting smart city works at VG Rao Nagar in Gandhinagar, a woman identified as Rajalakshmi started arguing with him vociferously on incomplete works. As she started gesticulating with her hands, Pandian asked her not to do so. But, she repeated this and the Collector again had to remind her not to do so. The unrelenting woman asked him whether he wanted her to talk with folded hands.

Meanwhile, her son, who was videographing the exchange on his mobile phone, was told to stop recording the incident by Pandian to which the youth said he was doing so with his mobile. When the Collector said he would be ‘remanded’ it resulted in an immediate retaliation from the woman and son demanding to know on what grounds such an action would be initiated.

Finally, a constable whisked away the youth from the spot.